The morning sun crept through the gaps in the wooden shutters like an unwelcome guest, landing directly on Kaito Takashi's face with the precision of a military strike.
"Mmmph... five more minutes..." Kaito mumbled, pulling his thin blanket over his head.
*SPLASH!*
Cold water drenched him instantly, soaking through the blanket, his clothes, his hair, everything.
"GYAAAAH! WHAT THE!" Kaito shot up like he'd been struck by lightning, sputtering and flailing.
His mother, Akane, stood over him with an empty wooden bucket, her expression a perfect mixture of exasperation and dark satisfaction.
"Good morning, Kaito," she said pleasantly. "Did you sleep well?"
"MOM! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Kaito wailed, wringing water from his blanket.
"You wouldn't wake up when I called you three times," Akane replied, setting the bucket down with a definitive thunk. "The entrance exam is in two days. TWO DAYS. And you're still sleeping like you have all the time in the world."
"But it's so early..."
"The sun is already up. Early would be waking you at dawn." Akane crossed her arms. "Besides, what's the point of waking up early? You're just going to fail anyway."
"MOM!"
"I'm just being realistic, dear." Akane's voice was light, almost cheerful, as she headed toward the door. "An ordinary mage trying to get into Xyruz Magical Academy? You might as well try to fly by flapping your arms. Actually, that might have better odds."
"I CAN DO IT!" Kaito protested, stumbling out of his soaked bed.
"Mmm-hmm. That's what you said last year when you tried to help me carry water from the well using wind magic." Akane paused at the doorway, glancing back with a smile that was equal parts loving and devastating. "You remember what happened, don't you?"
Kaito's face flushed red. "That was... that was an accident..."
"You blew the bucket into Mrs. Tanaka's laundry. She's still mad at you."
"IT WAS ONE TIME!"
"Three times, actually. But who's counting?" Akane waved dismissively. "Anyway, get dressed. Breakfast is ready. And Kaito?"
"...What?"
"Don't get your hopes up too much, okay?" Her voice softened, just for a moment, revealing genuine concern beneath the teasing. "I don't want to see you hurt when they reject you."
She left before Kaito could respond.
He stood there in his soaked clothes, water dripping onto the floor, frustration and determination warring in his chest.
*I'll show her,* he thought stubbornly. *I'll show everyone. I'm going to pass that exam and become the strongest mage ever. Then I'll find Dad and bring him home.*
His eyes drifted to the small, worn picture frame on the shelf beside his bed, the only image he had of his father. A tall man with kind eyes and a confident smile, his hand resting on young Akane's shoulder. The photo was old, faded, but Kaito had memorized every detail.
"Just wait, Dad," Kaito whispered. "I'm coming to find you."
***
Twenty minutes later, Kaito emerged from the house wearing dry clothes, a simple tunic and pants that had been patched so many times they were more patch than original fabric. His hair stuck up in about seven different directions despite his best efforts to flatten it.
"Kaito! KAITO!"
A familiar voice called out, and Kaito turned to see Yui running toward him, her long hair bouncing with each step. She was thin, almost concerningly so, but her energy more than made up for her small frame.
"Yui! You're early..."
"OF COURSE I'M EARLY!" Yui grabbed his arm, practically vibrating with excitement. "The exam is in TWO DAYS! We need to train! Every second counts!"
"Weren't you the one who said yesterday that we should rest before the exam?"
"That was yesterday-Yui. Today-Yui has a different opinion." She pulled him down the path. "Come on! Kabuto-sensei is probably already waiting at the training ground and you know how he gets when we're late..."
"Wait, Kabuto-sensei is training us TODAY?" Kaito's face went pale. "But I thought he was busy with academy preparations..."
"He sent a message this morning! Said something about 'one final hellish session to see if you're even worth the embarrassment of failing.'"
"THAT DOESN'T SOUND ENCOURAGING AT ALL!"
Yui laughed, a bright, genuine sound that made Kaito momentarily forget his panic. This was why they were best friends, he thought. Yui had this way of making everything seem less terrible, even when it definitely was terrible.
They'd known each other since the day they were born, literally. Their mothers had given birth in the same small clinic on the same day, becoming fast friends while recovering. Baby Kaito and baby Yui had apparently cried in harmony, which their mothers took as a sign that they were destined to be friends.
Eighteen years later, they still did almost everything together.
"Hey, Kaito?" Yui's voice softened as they walked.
"Yeah?"
"Do you really think we can pass the exam?" She glanced at him, and for just a moment, her usual confidence wavered. "I mean... I'm just a white soul mage with barely enough mana to fill a teacup. And you're..."
"An ordinary mage with even less," Kaito finished, grinning despite the harsh truth. "Yeah, I know. Everyone keeps reminding me."
"That's not what I meant..."
"But that's exactly why we HAVE to pass," Kaito interrupted, his grin widening into something more determined. "If we give up now, then everyone was right about us. But if we pass? Even if it's just barely? Then we prove that being weak doesn't mean being worthless."
Yui stared at him for a long moment, then smiled, a real smile, not the nervous one from before.
"You know what? You're right. We're going to pass that exam."
"That's the spirit!"
"And then we're going to become legendary mages!"
"Exactly!"
"And then you're going to find your dad!"
"Yes!"
"And then I'm going to..."
"THERE YOU ARE!"
Both of them froze mid-step.
Standing in the middle of the path, arms crossed and radiating an aura of deep displeasure, was Kabuto.
He looked exactly like what he was, a battle-hardened mage who'd seen too many wars and had exactly zero patience for nonsense. His face was all sharp angles and stern lines, his wind-swept hair making him look perpetually annoyed with the universe. The purple soul mage aura around him flickered slightly, like barely contained irritation given physical form.
"K-Kabuto-sensei!" Yui stammered. "We were just..."
"Late," Kabuto finished flatly. "You were just late. Again."
"We're not THAT late..." Kaito started.
"I've been waiting for seventeen minutes."
"...Okay, maybe a little late..."
"Do you know what happens to mages who are late to battle?" Kabuto's voice was dangerously calm. "They die. Do you know what happens to students who are late to the entrance exam? They don't get in. Do you know what both of those things have in common?"
Kaito and Yui exchanged nervous glances.
"...Being late is bad?" Yui offered weakly.
"Being late is bad," Kabuto confirmed. He turned and started walking toward the river. "Follow me. And try to keep up. Your 'final hellish training session' starts now."
"Wait, you're not going easy on us because the exam is soon?" Kaito called after him.
Kabuto glanced back, and for just a second, something that might have been a smile flickered across his face.
"Go easy on you? Kaito, if I went easy on you, you'd already be dead."
***
The training ground was a small clearing by the river, the same river where Kaito had spent countless hours practicing his pathetically weak wind magic, and where he'd failed countless times to produce anything remotely impressive.
"Alright," Kabuto said, positioning himself in the center of the clearing. "The entrance exam has two parts. First, they measure your mana using a mana gauge. That part, you'll either pass or fail based on what you're born with. Nothing I can do about that."
*Thanks for the vote of confidence,* Kaito thought.
"The second part is a combat trial. You'll face an instructor and try to take a tag from them." Kabuto pulled out a small red cloth and tucked it into his belt. "So today, we're going to practice exactly that. Both of you will attack me, together or separately, and try to get this tag."
"Both of us? Together?" Yui perked up. "That seems more fair than..."
"You have five minutes," Kabuto interrupted. "Starting now."
"FIVE MINUTES?! THAT'S NOT NEARLY ENOUGH..."
"Four minutes and fifty seconds."
"Kaito, stop arguing and START MOVING!" Yui shouted, already channeling her water magic.
Right. Focus.
Kaito took a deep breath, feeling for the mana inside him, that tiny, pathetic pool of energy that was supposed to make him a mage but mostly just made him feel inadequate.
*Come on,* he thought. *Just this once, work with me.*
He focused the mana into his right fist, feeling the wind element respond sluggishly. It always felt like trying to move through mud, slow, resistant, exhausting.
"WIND MAGIC, FIRST FORM, TORNADO FIST!"
Kaito punched forward, and a weak gust of wind spiraled toward Kabuto.
At the same time, Yui attacked from the left: "WATER MAGIC, SECOND FORM, WATER BULLET!"
Small spheres of compressed water shot toward their instructor.
Kabuto didn't even move.
He simply released a tiny amount of his own wind magic, and both attacks dissipated like smoke.
"Is that really everything you have?" Kabuto asked, sounding genuinely disappointed.
"We're just getting started!" Kaito charged forward, throwing a punch aimed at Kabuto's midsection, specifically, at where the tag was tucked into his belt.
Kabuto sidestepped casually. "Predictable."
Kaito stumbled past him, barely catching himself before face-planting into the dirt.
Yui tried next, circling around to Kabuto's blind spot and reaching for the tag with impressive speed.
Kabuto caught her wrist without even looking.
"Better," he acknowledged. "But still too slow."
"Damn it!" Yui pulled back, frustrated.
Four minutes remained.
Kaito and Yui regrouped, breathing hard despite barely having done anything. This was the gap between an ordinary mage and a purple soul mage, it wasn't just power, it was experience, technique, and the sheer efficiency of mana usage.
"Yui," Kaito whispered. "Distraction strategy?"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Probably not, but let's try anyway."
They split up, circling Kabuto from opposite sides.
"WIND MAGIC, SECOND FORM, GALE BLADE!" Kaito swept his hand in a cutting motion, sending a weak blade of wind at Kabuto's head.
"WATER MAGIC, THIRD FORM, TIDAL WAVE!" Yui created a small wave of water aimed at Kabuto's legs.
Kabuto blocked the wind with a raised hand and jumped over the water with ease.
But that moment, that single second where he was in the air, was what they'd been waiting for.
Kaito dove forward, not at Kabuto, but at where he'd land.
For a brief, glorious moment, his fingers actually touched the tag.
Then Kabuto's hand clamped down on his wrist with the force of an iron vice.
"Nice try," Kabuto said, and then threw Kaito directly into Yui.
They collided in a tangle of limbs and yelps, hitting the ground in a heap.
"Time's up," Kabuto announced.
Kaito groaned from somewhere underneath Yui. "Did... did we at least get close?"
"You touched the tag for approximately 0.3 seconds before I stopped you," Kabuto said. "So yes. Closer than last time."
"Closer than last time" felt like the story of Kaito's entire life.
Yui rolled off him, and they both lay on the ground, staring up at the sky, exhausted and bruised.
"Kabuto-sensei," Yui asked between gasps for breath, "be honest with us. Do we have ANY chance of passing the exam?"
Kabuto was quiet for a long moment.
"The first test, the mana gauge, is pure luck. You're both on the borderline between ordinary mage and white soul rank. Could go either way."
"That's not encouraging," Kaito muttered.
"The second test, though..." Kabuto's voice softened, just slightly. "If you fight like you did just now, with strategy, teamwork, and the willingness to take risks, then yes. You have a chance. A small one. But a chance."
Kaito sat up, hope flickering in his chest. "Really?"
"Don't let it go to your head," Kabuto added quickly. "You're still weak. You're still undertrained. And you're definitely still going to embarrass me when you fail."
"GEE, THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!"
"But," Kabuto continued, and for the first time, something almost like pride crossed his face, "you're also stubborn idiots who don't know when to quit. And sometimes, that's more important than talent."
He turned to leave, then paused.
"Kaito. One more round. Just you and me."
Yui perked up. "What about me?"
"You can rest. This is something Kaito needs to work on specifically." Kabuto's expression hardened. "Kaito, your problem isn't just low mana. It's control. You panic when things get serious, and your magic goes wild. If you can't fix that, you'll never pass the combat trial."
"I don't panic..."
"You absolutely panic," Yui interjected helpfully. "Remember last week when that spider crawled on you and you accidentally blew a hole in the side of your house?"
"THAT WAS DIFFERENT! IT WAS A BIG SPIDER!"
"It was tiny."
"IT WAS HUGE AND YOU KNOW IT!"
"Enough," Kabuto interrupted. "Kaito. Attack me. Right now. Don't think. Just attack."
Kaito scrambled to his feet, still tired from the previous round, but he focused his mana and charged forward.
"WIND MAGIC, FIRST FORM..."
"Too slow!" Kabuto appeared in front of him instantly and struck him in the chest with an open palm.
Not hard enough to injure, but hard enough to send Kaito flying backward.
He hit the ground, gasping.
"Again," Kabuto commanded.
Kaito got up, attacked again.
Got knocked down again.
"Again."
Up. Attack. Down.
"Again."
Up. Attack. Down.
"AGAIN!"
This went on for what felt like hours but was probably only about ten minutes. By the end, Kaito could barely stand, his mana completely depleted, his body covered in bruises.
"Why..." he gasped, "why do you always... have to be so harsh?"
Kabuto looked at him with an expression that was impossible to read.
"Because," he said quietly, "the world is harsh. Demons are harsh. Battle is harsh. And if I'm not harsh on you now, you'll die later."
He walked over and offered Kaito his hand.
Kaito stared at it for a moment, then took it, letting Kabuto pull him to his feet.
"You did better today," Kabuto said. "Not good. But better."
"...Thanks. I think."
"Don't thank me. Just get stronger." Kabuto released his hand. "Both of you, go home. Rest. And whatever you do, don't overtrain tomorrow. You need to be fresh for the exam."
"Yes, Kabuto-sensei!" they chorused.
Kabuto started to walk away, then stopped.
"Kaito."
"Yeah?"
For a moment, Kabuto seemed like he wanted to say something important. His expression softened, his mouth opening as if to speak words that had been held back for years.
But then he just shook his head.
"Never mind. Just... don't give up, alright?"
And with that, he was gone, disappearing into the trees with the practiced ease of a wind mage.
Yui came over and helped support Kaito's weight. "You okay?"
"I've been better," Kaito admitted. "But also... I've been worse. That's improvement, right?"
"That's definitely improvement." Yui smiled. "Come on. Let's get you home before you collapse."
They started walking back toward the village, the afternoon sun warm on their faces.
"Hey, Kaito?"
"Mm?"
"No matter what happens at the exam... I'm glad we're doing this together."
Kaito grinned despite his exhaustion. "Me too, Yui. Me too."
***
That evening, after Yui had gone home and Kaito had endured another round of his mother's cheerful pessimism ("Did you have fun training for your inevitable failure, dear?"), he finally had some time to himself.
His body ached. His mana was depleted. He should probably just sleep.
But something pulled at him, a restlessness he couldn't quite name.
He found himself walking toward the river again, Yuri the cat trailing behind him with typical feline indifference to human concerns.
The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. The river flowed peacefully, the same as it had for years, completely unchanged by the struggles of one weak mage trying desperately to be more than he was.
Kaito sat down on the riverbank, dangling his feet in the cool water.
"What do you think, Yuri?" he asked the cat. "Do you think I can really do this?"
"Meow," Yuri replied, which Kaito chose to interpret as "Obviously, you idiot."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I didn't come this far just to give up now."
He stared at his reflection in the water, a tired, bruised, but determined face staring back.
*Dad believed in me. Kabuto-sensei, in his own weird way, believes in me. Yui believes in me. I have to believe in myself too.*
That's when he saw it.
A glint of light in the water. Deep down, near the riverbed, something was glowing.
Kaito leaned closer, squinting. "What is that?"
It pulsed, once, twice, like a heartbeat made of light.
"Yuri, do you see that?"
"Meow." (Translation: "I see it, but I'm a cat, so I don't care.")
Curiosity overwhelmed caution. Kaito stood up, kicked off his shoes, and waded into the river.
The water was deeper than it looked. By the time he reached the glowing object, he was fully submerged, holding his breath, his fingers stretching toward it.
He touched it.
And everything changed.
*Energy.*
Massive, overwhelming, impossible amounts of energy flooded into his body through his fingertips. It was like being struck by lightning, like swallowing the sun, like every nerve in his body suddenly caught fire.
Kaito tried to let go.
His hand wouldn't move.
*What, what is this?!*
The energy kept pouring in. His small, pathetic mana reserves filled instantly, then overflowed. His body tried to adapt, tried to accommodate the power, but there was too much, far too much.
Pain exploded through every cell.
*LET GO! LET GO!*
The energy began to shift, changing forms. He felt wind. Then fire. Then water. Then earth. The four elements cycled through him in rapid succession, each one burning, freezing, crushing, tearing.
His vision went white.
His lungs screamed for air.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice, ancient, powerful, gentle, whispered:
*"Found you."*
Kaito's consciousness shattered.
***
Above the surface, Yuri the cat watched as the river suddenly exploded.
Water erupted upward in massive columns, defying gravity, flowing backward toward the village with unnatural force.
And at the center of it all, a boy floated unconsciously, his hand clenched around a small, glowing stone that pulsed with four different colors, red, blue, green, and white, swirling together in impossible harmony.
The mana radiating from that stone was enough to make even the air feel heavy.
Enough to flood a village.
Enough to wake things that should have stayed sleeping.
And hundreds of miles away, in the capital city of Xyruz, in front of the royal palace where a statue had stood silent for thirty years...
The stone eyes of Monk Zuzu began to glow.